Robinson Tejeda… Something isn’t right with this dude. Last year, his average fastball was around 94 mph with some serious life. Last night, he was living around 88-89 mph while sometimes dialing it up to 92. Interestingly enough, his fastest pitch was his last pitch – a 92.7 mph four-seamer he left right down the middle of the plate that was smoked for the game winning hit by Danny Valencia.

It was pretty clear from the four pitch walk to the second batter Tejeda faced (Michael Cuddyer) that this game was going to end in an ugly fashion for the Royals. What was Ned Yost thinking at this point? Unfortunately, it appears he wasn’t thinking at all. Ripping a page from the Trey Hillman Managerial Handbook, Yost sat on his hands while the game crumbled. Of course, the obvious gripe will be that Joakim Soria should have been in the game. Put me in this camp. Although I also understand that in an extra inning game on the road, you have to save him for the bottom of the inning just in case you take the lead in the top half of the inning. You just have to. (Emphasis added to underscore the sarcasm.) This argument is a dead horse. There are a lot of things about Yost that I like, but we can’t forget that he’s a major league manager, and as a major league manager he is expected to do things in a certain way. By The Book, if you will. Yost doesn’t strike me as a guy who would like to be tagged as an innovator. There’s just no way Soria will ever enter the game in that situation. Moot point.

Moving on, while Soria isn’t even going to warm up without a lead in extras, there was no reason Yost couldn’t have grabbed any warm body out in the pen. I don’t care who… Adcock, Jeffress, even Texeira. The point is, Tejeda was struggling (again.) If you’re truly trying to win the ballgame, you can’t watch what happened with the first two batters and do nothing. Yost fell asleep at the switch. I’m not going to say his inaction last night cost the Royals the game, but it didn’t help.

If you were managing like it was 2010, maybe you stick with Tejeda. He should be a better pitcher than the remaining guys in the bullpen. But this is 2011, and he’s not a better pitcher. At least so far in this young season.

Now we have to wonder what’s next for Tejeda. I’m thinking trip to the DL is happening, and I’m hoping it’s soon. He’s faced 26 batters this year, allowed 12 of them to reach base and has struck out just one.

Of course we wouldn’t be talking about any of this, had the Royals come through in the top of the seventh with runners on first and third and no one out. The Royals had just forced Brian Duensing out of the game after the Melk Man tagged him (literally) on a shot back up the middle. Enter Jose Mijares, a LOOGY who promptly overmatches left-handed hitting Alex Gordon on heat that was up and running away. Yes, you want Gordon to just put the bat on the ball in that situation, but it really felt like an unfair fight. The last pitch was up and probably out of the zone, but the action of it running away from the left-handed hitter made it a difficult pitch to handle. And given the moving strike zone all night (more on that in a moment) I can’t fault Gordon for the swing and the miss.

For me, the next at bat was much more frustrating because Matt Capps served up a couple of fastballs that Billy Butler really should have done something with. He was out in front of the first pitch and jerked it foul down the left field line, but that was a belt high fastball on the inner half. Right in his wheelhouse. If he had timed it right, it’s at least a sac fly, maybe more. The third (and final) pitch was just ridiculously hittable, and Butler dropped the barrel of the bat and popped out.

As frustrating as the first two outs… Jeff Francoeur. As I tweeted during the game, the Frenchy at bat carried an air of inevitability. Two outs, runner on third in a tie game and the three and four hitters had already failed. The pressure squarely on, Francoeur illustrated why you can’t count on him because his pitch selection is just so horrible. And of course, after he swings at a couple of pitches out of the zone, he takes strike three.

Before I’m blasted in the comments section about hating on Francoeur, let me talk about how much I liked his defense last night. Yes, he didn’t get to that ball in the 10th, but he had a long way to go and that wind was playing tricks. Good effort, and I really thought he had it. (Wouldn’t have made a difference with Yost sitting on his hands in the dugout.) Still, he recovered quickly and a strong throw prevented the game from ending right there. Then, there was the play on the Justin Morneau lineout where he was able to double Joe Mauer off first base. Solid. (And worth at least one point, I assume.)

A couple of other notes…

– It will be interesting to see the lineup for this afternoon’s game. It made sense to sit Kila Ka’aihue against the left-handed starter, especially given how he’s struggled in the early going. Mike Aviles isn’t doing much better, but Wilson Betemit has to be in the lineup from here on out. Maybe we’ll start to see a Kila/Aviles platoon until one of these guys comes around. If this is the case, Kila will be out today against Francisco Liriano.

– Loved the Tim Collins/Jim Thome matchup last night. The camera angle from Target Field really showed where Collins is (or isn’t) on the rubber. He’s practically throwing from the third base dugout.

– Aaron Crow is quickly becoming one of my favorite relievers because the guy works fast and doesn’t nibble. I get the feeling he knows what he wants to do with the next pitch before he’s done with the one he’s currently delivering. There might be some temptation to shift him to the rotation, especially given how Kyle Davies has performed and we’re a couple of days away from a Sean O’Sullivan start. The Royals will be wise to keep him in the bullpen for a couple of reasons. One, he projects as a reliever. That’s just his strength. And two, he’s a rookie. Let him learn how to pitch in the majors coming out of the bullpen. I love that old school philosophy. This way, it’s possible he could contribute to the rotation down the road.

– Presented without comment… Last night’s strike zone.

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Comments

Written by Derek about 4 years ago.

Glad to see the strike zone graph agrees with what I saw watching the game last night. I thought the Royals were on the wrong end of a lot of the strike calls (especially the strike 2 call against the Melk Man in the 9th). Not blaming the loss on the strike zone at all, but it didn’t appear both teams were getting the same calls.

I agree about Tejada too, something isn’t right with him.

Written by TJ about 4 years ago.

Assuming the graph is from the Umpire’s point of view, I think I know which pitch was Nathan’s second strike on Melky.

Written by Eric P about 4 years ago.

Who is our best replacement for Tejeda should he go on the DL (because it does seem like he’s about to be Kazmir’d)? And how many Jeff Suppan starts will we have to suffer through before we get to see Monty or Duffy once Davies and O’Sullivan leave Yost with no choice but to find alternatives for them.

I’m not sure about you specifically Craig, because I kind of get the opinions of all three of you mixed around in my head, but the thought that you wouldn’t like Crow to at least try to pitch in a starter’s role seems a little out of character with the general sense that “2011 is a throwaway year and we should spend it sifting through everything to see what our assets for the future are”. While I wouldn’t say I either strongly agree or disagree with this statement, I do think that Crow has already proven to me that he is a ML-caliber pitcher for good and I’d be interested to see to what extent he could help our team. If nothing else, I’d rather see him get hit around than Davies for my own sanity.

As far as the strike zone goes, I think that ump was just not that great who seemed to widen the strike zone for pitches at the belt. On the opposite side of Melky’s strike two you can see a very bad strike that was called on (I believe) Valencia earlier in the game. It sucks, but that’s just how he was calling them last night: badly, but evenly badly.

Written by SullivanRoyal about 4 years ago.

I remember last year during Spring Training that we were pushing Tejeda to be a starter, but Tejeda wasn’t able to beat out Davies (nor was Farnsworth). Is Tejeda just a slow starter and not necessarily hurt? Is he using a lower speed to have better control, and not be as sloppy as he was last Spring? Did McClure change his mechanics that may have cost him some speed?

Written by Ted about 4 years ago.

I was at the game last night, and actually had great seats, close in behind home plate, so I was treated to a fine view of the action.

The strike zone was a mystery all night, but he was being consistent in calling the outside strike on righties, no matter whether it was a lefty or righty pitching. And Francis took advantage of that all night (as did Nathan in his inning — the dude pretty much lived there against Escobar, who I almost felt sorry for). The outside pitch to lefties was equally consistent, you just weren’t going to get that call. But the inside pitch to lefties, which, I suppose, corresponds to the outside pitch to righties, was wildly inconsistent, and I could see the frustration in players like Morneau and Melky Cabrera (especially on that ball four that was called a strike in the 9th, facing Nathan, who was still living on that same outside edge, even against lefties).

Tejada looks broken. It isn’t just the velocity, but the placement and movement are also missing. And is it just me, or does his delivery look different, like it is somehow less intense than before? Whatever his issues, he was laboring last night.

Loved watching Crow at work again (got to see him when I was in KC). But I was kind of bothered by Yost’s use of him. Why bring him in to start the 8th against Morneau when Francis had only thrown 98 pitches? I guess Yost isn’t a fan of partial innings. Maybe that is why he left Tejada in to die.

On the Twins side, Gardenhire continues to amaze. It was clearly a pinch hit situation for Thome in the 9th, so why wasn’t Hughes bunting? Get down a good bunt, and Thome’s single becomes a walk off. And with Betemit and Butler at the corners, it wasn’t as though the defense was going to put up much of a fight. Plus, the Twins are always pointed to as spunky guys who can play the small ball. Right.

Butler’s popup in the 7th was frustrating, but I like that he came up to the plate aggressive, clearly looking to get the RBI.

Frenchy’s throw to get Mauer was beautiful.

Written by Jason about 4 years ago.

Was the injured Tejeda getting the Hochevar treatment last night? The final eye test from Yost before he confirms what we have all thought? Regardless, even a healthy Tejeda gets an early hook in that situation. Everybody knows Robby is nails when he’s on. When he’s off. Simple, make the move. I agree that Soria isn’t “the guy” for this situation, but why is there hesitation to use Jeffress? A lot of questions this morning. Last one. Is this the beginning of a lengthy loosing streak? Today’s day game will be incredibly tough against an ignited Twins team.

SullivanRoyal – I was against Tejeda As Starter for the very reason Jason mentioned… He always runs hot and cold. When he’s off… He’s way off. Like, not get through the 1st inning off.

And like Ted says, it’s not just the velocity about Tejeda. It’s the whole package.

Written by Jason about 4 years ago.

Ted // If Hughes bunts and moves the runner to 2nd, first base becomes open and the Royals can pitch around Thome.

Written by Ted about 4 years ago.

Also, Jeff Francis (still) = Ace.

Granted, it was against a struggling Twins offense that is left heavy, but his performance last night was quite good. He was hitting that outside spot for lots of strike one calls, and he was producing ground balls like a mad man. Only three of his outs were in the air, one was a sacrifice fly, another was a popup that did not leave the infield, and the third was Morneau’s ball that Frenchy turned into a double play. 12 outs were groundballs and another five were strikeouts.

Written by Jason about 4 years ago.

Ted // I completely agree regarding J. Francis. He left a few balls up in the middle innings when the Twins did their damaged, but otherwise pitched a controlled game. I think that’s what we can expect from Francis. He’s going to have bad outings, but he seems stay within his game and will keep his team close.

Written by Clark Fosler about 4 years ago.

My thoughts on Crow…
At some point, you have to seperate ‘where he was drafted and what that should make him’ verus what he really is. I think he could be a shutdown setup man, with a possible future as a closer if the Royals move/cannot resign/don’t want to resign Soria.
While that may seem a waste on this year’s team (assuming they revert to non-contenders as is likely), the role of setup man will be very important on the 2012-13-14 teams.
Starting no later than 2012, the Royals will have a bunch of rookies starting games for them, why not have the backend of the pen filled with the then experienced Crow & Collins leading into Soria?

Written by Zack Daddy about 4 years ago.

Couldn’t agree more, Clark.

Written by wizscape about 4 years ago.

Crow still only has two effective pitches. I’d be a little worried about him going through the order for the second or third time. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a little less effective later in the year when everyone’s seen more of him. He’s able to dial it up to the mid 90s because he’s only throwing 1 or 2 innings. If he has to go 5-6 his velocity is going to drop. Since he doesn’t have an effective off-speed pitch, he’s going to be exposed when he gets to the 4th or 5th inning.

Written by jim fetterolf about 4 years ago.

On Crow, he may yet be a good starter, but needs a dominant 3rd pitch and an adequate 4th. Didn’t Greinke take awhile to develop his change and be able to control his curve? Looks like they are using Crow to his capabilities and getting performance. Whether he becomes a starter is still unknown, but current path won’t harm him and should he get a change this year, working into a few starts later on would be possible like with that skinny kid in ’08.

Written by Brett about 4 years ago.

Just to play devil’s advocate…

We all agree the Royals aren’t going to challenge for a playoff spot this year (despite currently having a winning record), right? So what if Yost wasn’t managing to win the game, but managing with the goal of increasing Tejeda’s confidence and getting him back on track? I’m pretty sure we’ll all also agree that Tejeda hasn’t been himself so far this year, but nobody’s sure why. Yost may have felt that if he had a quick hook with Tejeda, he’d lose confidence and things would get worse instead of getting better. It’s not as strong of an argument when it comes to releivers, but it does remind me a little of one of Yost’s first games as the Royals’ manager, where he left Hochevar in for a tough situation so Hochevar could learn how to work through those situations. If I recall correctly, it didn’t work that day (Hochevar gave up some runs and the Royals lost the game), but Hochevar seems to have pitched somewhat better since that point, so it may have been the correct long-term decision.

Written by Zack Daddy about 4 years ago.

Let’s see if Crow is still effective after hitters start studying the video a little more. I hope he is, but these hitters are seeing him for the first time.

Lee Judge has a good article to day on a piec of Billy Butler’s defense that cost KC a run last night. Exactly why I am not a fan of Billy at 1B. These little details matter. Kila had better start hitting now.

Written by Nick Scott about 4 years ago.

Brett, I care more about winning last nights game than Tejeda’s confidence. He’s a big leaguer. He’s paid to get guys out. If he can’t do that or his ego is so fragile that pulling him out when he can’t do his job effectively then he doesn’t belong on the team.

Brett – I understand that line of thinking, but for me I’ve always advocated a quick hook on Tejeda. There are games where he just doesn’t have command of his pitches (ignoring his velocity issues) where he’s going to walk a handful of batters, then catch too much of the plate.

And I think you’re right about it not working that way for starters vs relievers. Unless it’s Jimmy Gobble being left in the game as a human sacrifice.

Written by Adam about 4 years ago.

With all due respect, Nick, by that logic, Zack Greinke didn’t belong on the team. If you have the talent and the track record, teams will do a whole lot of ego massaging to keep you productive.

Written by Nick Scott about 4 years ago.

“With all due respect, Nick, by that logic, Zack Greinke didn’t belong on the team.”

I’m not sure I understand your comment. Are you saying Greinke didn’t have the confidence to pitch in the MLB? I disagree with that completely. Zack isn’t some fragile ego’d guy who will lose confidence.

Written by kcrb about 4 years ago.

all this being said…if collins was left in and gave up back to back big hits…we would be saying yost left him in too long…if he brought in soria..it would be , why are we using him in a non save situation on the road… the manager has tuff decisions to make, in hindsight..i also think tejeda should have come out… i have never really been a fan of tejeda…but , he is supposed to be set up man

Written by Clark Fosler about 4 years ago.

On Tejeda – my complaint is not the change from Collins to him, but the fact that no one was warming in the pen given that Robinson has not been ‘on’ thus far this season.

Butler’s defense at first has truly hurt the Royals this year. A run last night and at least three plays on Sunday in Detroit that Kila likely makes. I actually am developing a pretty high opinion of Ka’aihue’s defense. Of course, at first base, you cannot play good enough defense to justify not hitting.

Written by Nick Scott about 4 years ago.

I’m fine bringing Tejeda in the game, but I’d have had a short leash if he failed. I don’t think it was a completely crazy decision, but one that deserves to be second guessed.

Written by kcrb about 4 years ago.

everybody is always saying, “….But butler has hardly any errors….” its not necessarily the errors that make him a bad first baseman…its the little things around the bag…bad foot work, not stretching to save a few bad throws…and etc…i think i have counted 3 runs directly due to his sub par defense…and there may be more…i’m not bashing the guy, but he is not a first baseman

Written by Ted about 4 years ago.

Casilla’s stolen base should have been a throwing error on Butler. Too bad about it, too, because Francis executed a beautiful pickoff move to get that started. (Speaking of Francis’ defense, it is good; he had the pickoff attempt plus three assists, showing nice athleticism when he came off the mound to field a bunt attempt and also in making two above average snags on balls hit back at him.)

Written by Ted about 4 years ago.

Clark, I get what you are saying about Crow, but I disagree that now was the time to move him to the pen (if it is a permanent move). Actually, scratch that, I think it was the wrong time to move him to the pen, period, because if he has success in the pen, they likely won’t ever try him in the rotation again. Soria = case in point.

Maybe Crow really is not a ML starter, but one season of MiLB does not seem like enough time to determine that answer. Look at Martin Perez in Texas. He had a horrid season last year, and, yes, his stock did drop, but no one is writing him off just yet as a starter.

I think if you have guys with Crow’s talent, you give them every opportunity to prove themselves incapable of holding down a job in the rotation. Yes, if it doesn’t happen, you don’t keep him there because of draft position (Hoch?) or because you lack options (Davies?), but starting his ML service time in the pen strikes me as a recipe for never knowing what we might have had (Soria?).

And this business about two pitches not being enough might be true, but Verlander and Hamels are both essentially two-pitch starters. There is the indominable Mr Wakefield. Francisco Liriano is an artist with two pitches, using his third (change up) to good effect by limiting its use and not getting beat with it.

Written by jamboslice about 4 years ago.

Anybody hate Danny Valenica besides me and not because of his hit last night? A below average hitter that’s way to cocky for his current role.

Written by Ted about 4 years ago.

Jason: That’s a good point about the non-bunt. Another reason why I will never manage a baseball team.

Written by Zack Daddy about 4 years ago.

Not that you need my blessing or care to have it, but I grant each blogger at RA to impose as much cynicism, sarcasm and negativity about Kyle Davies as he wishes.

Written by Sean about 4 years ago.

Well Kyle is going to get credit for the W today. The only credit deserved is pulling him before he completely blew it…He’s a bad starter. I’m not worried about SOS or Mazarro because neither one of them have been terrible 3x this year. Kyle will get the ball again a week from now and it will take another 9 run effort to win the game.

Written by airgoesit about 4 years ago.

thank you kcrb. none of this conversation exists if Butler throws to second base instead of rushing a throw to CF and his back up wasn’t Pedro Cirano. (Where’s the live chickens!!!)
Can we stop the Hosmer to the OF BS now?

Written by Brian about 4 years ago.

Crow looks like he has been in the pen for years and I believe he belongs there. He goes straight after everyone he faces and he looks like a seasoned vet (in this case it might be that “ignorance is bliss”). For all of you who believe Crow should be in the rotation, just think back (not too far back) when the bullpen was blowing every quality start that was thrown by our better starters. Now think about replacing this year’s bullpen the sub-par pens that we have staffed before. How many losses then? They MIGHT be 4-7 (probably a generous number). KC has been to extra frames four times and has yet to be blown out- once again once again all because of the bullpen. You can’t argue that this is all the benefit of a better-than-average pen. With a couple of quality starters on deck for the bigs you need a strong pen to keep the team in games if they struggle early in thier ML careers. Keeping Crow in the pen might pave the way to get Duffy or Montgomery up sooner. Not that we need another reason, but if Yost starts pulling reliable relievers to the rotation and we have one injury the pen might fall apart and then kiss the good start goodbye.